I love when The Amazing Race is in Africa. This show is 200% better when elephants are sauntering by. The episode kicked off with teams leaving the reserve and heading to a village called Boro.

There was some drama early on when the blondies were pulled over for speeding. What happens when you get a ticket on The Amazing Race? Well, if you can’t sweet talk your way out of it then you have to go to the police station and pay up. Bummer! I guess a team had to get caught for speeding eventually on this show. Kudos to the Botswana po-po for sticking to their guns and being the sterotype police who are sweet-talked by some pretty girls.

The girls ran into more trouble when they discovered that they couldn’t pay the ticket with US Dollars. They relied on the kindness of a stranger to help them out, and it actually worked. Karma!

Max and Katie also got stuck with a speeding ticket, and they had a TAR Speed Bump to contend with as well. Then, leaving the police station, Max backed into a pole. Rough leg for those two. Meanwhile, Team YouTube got so lost that they ended up tied in last place with Max and Katie.

Water Ski

The hockey bros, who were in first place, went for the Fast Forward this week. They had to water ski down a river, and did it successfully despite some concerns. (One bro had tried it before and failed.) They came in first place again. These dudes might win the whole race.

I laughed when Pam and Winnie arrived at the clue box, excitedly gasped “Fast Forward!” and then immediately said “No, we can’t do it”, knowing that whatever team had already arrived would have gone for it. Smart, though excitable, girls. I liked how they really soaked up the pretty scenery and appreciated it – I think Pam and Winnie are my favorite team this season.

Some teams struggled with the paddling, and I was kind of hoping Chuck and Winona would fall in. They’re so negative and snide, I really dislike them. I find them (specifically, Winona) snarky, but never in a funny or clever way. Just in a sour way.

Speed Bump

Once Max and Katie had their traffic violation sorted, they had to do a quick dance as their Speed Bump. It didn’t take very long, but they were in last place.

Detour – Brains vs. Brawn

In Brains, teams had to go on a horseback safari and then correctly choose pictures of animal cutouts they’d seen, In Brawn, teams had to stack firewood on a sleigh and use a carrot on a stick (seriously!) to get the donkey to deliver it. I would have gone Brains, because I think horses are easier to control than donkeys. A lot of the teams chose Brawn, and some had trouble getting the donkeys to move. Pam and Winnie bailed pretty quickly, while the country girls and roller derby moms actually didn’t do too badly. Beth and Mona finished second, and Caroline and Jennifer finished third – pretty surprising considering their dramatic start to the leg.

It was funny that Chuck and Winona, of all people, went for Brains. Chuck identified one of the animals as a kudu, which I’d never heard of but is indeed a type of antelope that lives in Africa. They actually kind of rocked the challenge, but it took longer than the donkey option. They finished fourth. I don’t like them, but they did well this leg.

Pam and Winnie messed up Brains twice, and decided to switch back to Brawn. By the time they made that decision, the two last-place teams had finished up the Detour. They’d been neck-and-neck in the challenge, and it was a close footrace to the mat. Megan and Joey got there a little faster, but because Pam and Winnie had screwed up, both teams were still in the race.

It’s too bad, because I really liked Pam and Winnie. I don’t know who I’ll root for now. The hockey bros? The roller derby moms? We haven’t seen much from them, personality-wise. They were eliminated with happy faces.

I probably liked this episode most of any so far. The location can’t be beat, the challenges were decent, and the results were surprising. Glad that the season finally delivered! What did you guys think?

I’m with you, Jill…. I have no idea who to root for. Hockey bros took over the irritating thing from Joey this episode for me. And I found myself actually rooting for Team Youtube in their race against Max & Katie. I didn’t realize I cared that much considering I was so annoyed by them so far this season. Guess there’s a thin line between love and hate.. the that line is apparently a frazzled Max?

I can’t even tell you who the strongest team left in the race is. It’s weird, usually someone jumps out of the pack by now but none of the remaining teams has done so. Thoughts?

LOL! That was my first thought as well upon seeing/hearing the goats! 😀

Anyways, I’m in love with this season! The locations are great, I’m really enjoying the challenges and so far most episodes had compelling storylines or close finishes or unexpected twists or funny bits that made them more than enjoyable.

I love most of the teams, I think each and every one of them adds something to the dynamics and story lines of each episode. Yes, Chuck and Wynona are snarky and the weakest team left, but I just love how down to Earth and weird they are. Yes, Joey’s annoying, but I think he and Meghan have a very appealing relationship. Even Max and Katie have grown on me over the last few episodes. His ‘dear God’ moment when he hit the pole was hilarious. It’s not like nobody has any faults, because they do – but they’re more awesome than they’re not, know what I mean? 😉

I think my two favorite teams are the hockey bros (‘And Africa’s looking good as well’) and the moms, so I’m glad they finished first and second.

I was very disappointed that Pam and Winnie were eliminated. While Chuck and Wynonna came in last place two or three times, but were saved by various circumstances, Pam and Winnie blow it ONCE and they are gone. Luck is a part of this race, I know, but it’s still frustrating.

I also would have gone with Brains, since donkeys are notorious for being hard to control. I was surprised though at how much longer that task seemed to take than Brawn. So I guess the producers were rewarding those willing to take the donkey risk? The teams who succeeded in quickly doing the Brawn task seemed to just pull the donkeys by force and get them going using brute strength. Pam and Winnie didn’t see that. They just saw that the carrot was a joke and that the donkeys were just going to stubbornly stand there.

It’s too bad. They were my favorites, they were funny and likable, and I thought they were overall the strongest team. I”m with Peter. It’s hard to say who is even the strongest team left at this point. Yes, maybe the Hockey Bros. (And yes, they were funny last night. Loved it!) But, in last night’s episode, they were not really tested at all. There was no bunching, and them having to rise to the top again, before they arrived first at the pit stop. So I’m not convinced.

I don’t know why, but I find myself rooting for Max and Katie in these who-will-come-in-last foot races that they seem to find themselves in. Katie was not nice at all to her hubby in this episode and I felt a lot of sympathy for Max. On paper, you’d think they (and Megan and Joey, for that matter) would be strong teams.

It’s an odd season. You have seemingly strong teams (John and Jessica, Dave and Connor, and now Pam and Winnie) out already. I like that the Amazing Race is unpredictable. In the beginning, I was worried that the cookie-cutter team of John and Jessica were going to win half the legs and then the whole race. That would have been yawn inducing. Dave and Connor (father-son team, not necessarily the stereotypical AR winners), and Pam and Winnie (all-girl teams are pretty rare AR winners) would not have been boring and I hope to see both teams back if they do any more All Star type seasons.